AMR pilots back AA-US Airways merger

The Allied Pilots Association (APA), the union that makes up American Airlines’ (AA) pilots, announced yesterday that it supports a merger between AA and US Airways.

The pilots and the CEO of AMR Corp., AA’s parent company, met yesterday to discuss the best approach for the airline to emerge from Chapter 11 bankruptcy. In the meeting, CEO Tom Horton pitched to the pilots a plan to emerge from bankruptcy as an independent carrier. But the pilots were unsold.

"The case was made for the standalone plan, and APA leadership gave the standalone plan pitch due consideration but after the meeting continued to believe that a merger is best for the longtime interest of our pilots and our airline," APA spokesman Dennis Tajer told Thomson Reuters.

US Airways has been proposing a merger with AA for the past year. In addition to the pilots’ union’s support of the merger, unions for AA’s flight attendants and ground workers also support the plan. The marriage of the two carriers would be comparable to United Continental Holdings.